What this guidebook covers
Oil, filters and batteries are hazardous waste, and a workshop produces them every day. Law 7/2022 fines very serious infringements up to €3.5 million, with a minimum of €300,001 when hazardous waste is involved. The polluter pays to clean up the soil, and SEPRONA (the Civil Guard's environmental unit) investigates illegal discharges and scrapping.
This guidebook covers 6 environmental standards for workshops and dealers, with 17 checkpoints: registration as a waste producer, the chronological record, hazardous waste storage, authorised waste managers, controlled discharges, and end-of-life vehicles. The guidebook PDF is in Spanish.
The 6 waste and environment standards
| Code | Standard | Ideal fix time |
|---|---|---|
| RES-01 | Registered as a waste producer | 7 days |
| RES-02 | Chronological record | 7 days |
| RES-03 | Hazardous waste storage | 72 hours |
| RES-04 | Authorised waste managers | 7 days |
| RES-05 | Controlled discharges | 24 hours |
| RES-06 | End-of-life vehicles | 30 days |
How to run a Spanish waste and environment audit, step by step
- Confirm what applies. Confirm each site is registered as a hazardous waste producer with its NIMA (environmental ID number); the regions keep the registers and can add their own rules. The end-of-life vehicle standard applies only if you collect cars for scrapping.
- Walk the site, standard by standard. Score each of the 17 checkpoints Pass, Fail or N/A. N/A only where the standard rules it out, with the reason recorded. Look inside the bins, compare waste manager invoices with the identification documents (DI), check each manager in the register, the oil separator log and the cars handed over for scrapping.
- Capture the evidence. A pass counts only with proof captured at the time of the audit: registration decisions, the chronological record and DIs, photos of the storage area, the list of waste managers, the separator emptying log and certificates of destruction.
- Give every fail an owner and a fix time. Record what you saw and who owns the fix. Each standard carries an ideal fix time, from 24 hours to 30 days, counted from audit submission (see the table above).
- Fix it, then prove it. The site fixes the cause and uploads proof of closure; the auditor checks the proof before closing the finding.
- Re-check at the next audit. Confirm closed findings stay closed, and look for the same fail at your other sites so one gap doesn't repeat across the network.
Who this guidebook is for
- Management: answers for the waste until it reaches its destination
- Workshop managers: separate and document every waste stream
- Auditors: check containers, records and waste managers
A reference document, not legal advice. Fines and rules change: check the current text with the regulator or your legal adviser before acting.
